Category:Bhagavatam Verses Spoken by the Yamadutas - Vaniquotes
- The Yamadūtas are the 35th top speakers of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam with 41 verses at Vanisource. They speak only in the 6th canto (41 verses).
Theme Analysis
The Yamadūtas represent the strict enforcement of the law of karma. In the story of Ajāmila, they serve as the prosecutors, arguing that because Ajāmila committed sins throughout his life and did not perform the specific ritualistic atonement (prāyaścitta), he must be punished. Their dialogue with the Viṣṇudūtas (the order-carriers of Lord Viṣṇu) and their subsequent report to Yamarāja provide a detailed exposition on the nature of dharma (religious principles), the mechanism of the subtle body, and the inevitability of transmigration.
- The Definition of Dharma: The Yamadūtas argue that dharma is defined by the Vedas, which are directly the Supreme Personality of Godhead. They assert that anyone who violates these Vedic injunctions is subject to punishment.
- The Science of the Soul: They offer a profound scientific analysis of how the soul is entrapped. They describe the sixteen elements of the subtle body and use analogies like the "silkworm in a cocoon" and "springtime" to explain how past desires determine future bodies.
- Universal Guilt: They maintain that since everyone in the material world is forced to act by the modes of nature (guṇas), everyone commits sin and is therefore punishable. They are baffled when the Viṣṇudūtas challenge this jurisdiction, leading them to question Yamarāja about the existence of a higher authority.
- Explore the synthesized essence of this category in this Vanipedia article: Arguments of Yamadūtas - On Dharma, Sin, and the Soul.
Pages in category "Bhagavatam Verses Spoken by the Yamadutas - Vaniquotes"
The following 55 pages are in this category, out of 55 total.
A
- Above the five senses of perception, the five working senses and the five objects of the senses is the mind, which is the sixteenth element. Above the mind is the seventeenth element, the soul
- Above the mind is the seventeenth element, the soul, the living being himself, who, in cooperation with the other sixteen, enjoys the material world alone. The living being enjoys three kinds of situations, namely happy, distressful and mixed
- All living entities are awarded different qualities, different names (such as brahmana, ksatriya and vaisya), different duties according to the varnasrama institution, and different forms. Thus Narayana is the cause of the entire cosmic manifestation
- Although born of a brahmana family, this rascal, bereft of intelligence because of the prostitute's association, earned money somehow or other, regardless of whether properly or improperly, and used it to maintain the prostitute's sons and daughters
- As a sleeping person acts according to the body manifested in his dreams & accepts it to be himself, so one identifies with his present body, which he acquired because of his past religious or irreligious acts & is unable to know his past or future lives
- As far as possible he patiently tried to remember the instructions of the sastras not even to see a woman
- As soon as the sinful Ajamila uttered the name Narayana, these four beautiful men immediately arrived and reassured him, saying, "Do not fear. Do not fear"
H
- He (Ajamila) was upright, benevolent to all living entities, and well behaved. He would never speak nonsense or envy anyone
- He (the foolish embodied living entity, inept at controlling his senses and mind) is like a silkworm that uses its own saliva to create a cocoon and then becomes trapped in it, with no possibility of getting out
- He irresponsibly spent his long lifetime transgressing all the rules and regulations of the holy scripture, living extravagantly and eating food prepared by a prostitute. Therefore he is full of sins. He is unclean and is addicted to forbidden activities
- He was always truthful, he knew how to chant the Vedic mantras, and he was also very pure. Ajamila was very respectful to his spiritual master, the fire-god, guests, and the elderly members of his household. Indeed, he was free from false prestige
- How many causes are responsible for manifesting the various results of activities performed under the three modes of material nature (sattva-guna, rajo-guna and tamo-guna)?
I
- In all conditions, however, he is actually miserable. His miserable condition is called samsrti, or transmigration in material life
- In proportion to the extent of one's religious or irreligious actions in this life, one must enjoy or suffer the corresponding reactions of his karma in the next
- In the beginning this brahmana named Ajamila studied all the Vedic literatures. He was a reservoir of good character, good conduct and good qualities
- In the same way that the sun and moon are eclipsed by a low planet, the brahmana lost all his good sense
N
- Not a single living entity can remain unengaged even for a moment. One must act by his natural tendency according to the three modes of material nature because this natural tendency forcibly makes him work in a particular way
- Now we (Yamadutas) see that the punishment ordained under your (Yamaraja's) authority is no longer effective, since your order has been transgressed by four wonderful and perfect persons
O
- On the way home, he came upon a sudra, a very lusty, fourth-class man, who was shamelessly embracing and kissing a prostitute. The sudra was smiling, singing and enjoying as if this were proper behavior
- Once this brahmana Ajamila, following the order of his father, went to the forest to collect fruit, flowers and two kinds of grass, called samit and kusa
- One who has accepted a material body cannot be inactive, and sinful action is inevitable for one acting under the modes of material nature. Therefore all the living entities within this material world are punishable
- Our impression was that you are the master of all living entities, the supreme authority who discriminates between the pious and impious activities of all human beings
S
- Since the living entity is associated with material nature, he is in an awkward position, but if in the human form of life he is taught how to associate with the Supreme Personality of Godhead or His devotee, this position can be overcome
- Since there are many different karmis, or workers, there may be different judges or rulers to give them justice, but just as one central emperor controls different departmental rulers, there must be one supreme controller to guide all the judges
T
- The candidates for punishment are those who are confirmed by these many witnesses to have deviated from their prescribed regulative duties. Everyone engaged in fruitive activities is suitable to be subjected to punishment according to his sinful acts
- The foolish embodied living entity, inept at controlling his senses and mind, is forced to act according to the influence of the modes of material nature, against his desires
- The fruitive activities a living being performs, whether pious or impious, are the unseen cause for the fulfillment of his desires. This unseen cause is the root for the living entity's different bodies
- The living entities are thus known as peaceful, restless and foolish; as happy, unhappy or in-between; or as religious, irreligious and semireligious. We can deduce that in the next life these three kinds of material nature will similarly act
- The living entity takes birth in a particular family and receives a body which is either like that of his mother or like that of his father because of his intense desire. The gross and subtle bodies are created according to his desire
- The living entity traps himself in a network of his own fruitive activities and then can find no way to release himself. Thus he is always bewildered, and repeatedly he dies
- The omnipotent Yamaraja is as good as Lord Brahma for while situated in his own abode or in everyone's heart like the Paramatma, he mentally observes the past activities of a living entity & thus understands how the living entity will act in future lives
- The subtle body is endowed with sixteen parts - the five knowledge-acquiring senses, the five working senses, the five objects of sense gratification, and the mind. This subtle body is an effect of the three modes of material nature
- The sudra, his arm decorated with turmeric powder, was embracing the prostitute. When Ajamila saw her, the dormant lusty desires in his heart awakened, and in illusion he fell under their control
- The sun, fire, sky, air, demigods, moon, evening, day, night, directions, water, land and Supersoul Himself all witness the activities of the living entity
- The supreme cause of all causes, Narayana, is situated in His own abode in the spiritual world, but nevertheless He controls the entire cosmic manifestation according to the three modes of material nature-sattva-guna, rajo-guna and tamo-guna
- The supreme judge must be one, not many. It was our understanding that you are that supreme judge and that you have jurisdiction even over the demigods
- The victimized Ajamila engaged in sinful acts in her association because his intelligence was pierced by the lustful glance of the prostitute. He even gave up the company of his very beautiful young wife, who came from a very respectable brahmana family
- The Yamadutas replied: That which is prescribed in the Vedas constitutes dharma, the religious principles, and the opposite of that is irreligion. The Vedas are directly the SPG, Narayana, and are self-born. This we have heard from Yamaraja
- The Yamadutas said: Our dear lord, how many controllers or rulers are there in this material world?
- This man Ajamila did not undergo atonement. Therefore because of his sinful life, we must take him into the presence of Yamaraja for punishment. There, according to the extent of his sinful acts, he will be punished and thus purified
- This subtle body is an effect of the three modes of material nature. It is composed of insurmountably strong desires, and therefore it causes the living entity to transmigrate from one body to another in human life, animal life and life as a demigod
- Thus Ajamila began spending whatever money he had inherited from his father to satisfy the prostitute with various material presentations so that she would remain pleased with him. He gave up all his brahminical activities to satisfy the prostitute
W
- We (Yamadutas) were bringing the most sinful Ajamila toward the hellish planets, following your (Yamaraja's) order, when those beautiful persons from Siddhaloka forcibly cut the knots of the ropes with which we were arresting him
- We can see three different varieties of life, which are due to the contamination of the three modes of nature. The entities are thus known as peaceful, restless and foolish; as happy, unhappy or in-between; or as religious, irreligious and semireligious
- We wish to know about them from Your Lordship. If you think we are able to understand them, kindly describe who they are
- When the living entity gets the body of a demigod, he is certainly very jubilant, when he gets a human body he is always in lamentation, and when he gets the body of an animal, he is always afraid
- When the order carriers of Yamaraja, the son of the sun-god, were thus forbidden, they replied: Who are you, sirs, that have the audacity to challenge the jurisdiction of Yamaraja?
- With the help of this knowledge and his intellect, he tried to control his lusty desires, but because of the force of Cupid within his heart, he failed to control his mind
Y
- Yamadutas said: Your eyes are just like the petals of lotus flowers. Dressed in yellow silken garments, decorated with garlands of lotuses, and wearing very attractive helmets on your heads and earrings on your ears, you all appear fresh and youthful
- You (Visnudutas) are sinless, but those within this material world are all karmis, whether acting piously or impiously. Both kinds of action are possible for them because they are contaminated by the three modes of nature and must act accordingly
- Your four long arms are decorated with bows & quivers of arrows & with swords, clubs, conchshells, discs and lotus flowers. Your effulgence has dissipated the darkness of this place with extraordinary illumination. Now, sirs, why are you obstructing us?